Hollow

Chapter 20

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My locker opened with a click and the door swung open in front of me. My locker, aside from one folder filled with Spanish notes, was empty. I placed my trigonometry text book inside next to the folder. I sighed, staring into the bare space.

The final bell had just rung and everyone was slowly filing out of the school. Students roamed the hallways around me, talking animatedly to one another.

It was Wednesday, which was one of the days that Angela had dance practice. Since we'd made up, I'd gone back to riding with her to and from school. That meant that today I'd have to wait two extra hours after school for her to finish.

I could have easily called Miranda or Victor to pick me up, but I didn't like to bother them. Waiting wasn't bad anyway; Angela let me sit in and watch the practices. She and her dance team were very talented. I really enjoyed watching them rehearse. The way that they moved so gracefully together was amazing.

I couldn't imagine myself ever being able to do anything like that.

I stepped back and shut my locker door, ready to make my way to the gym. Just as I began to walk, a soft voice called out my name. I turned to greet Molly as she made her way to me.

"Hi, Molly." I said with a smile. "How are you?"

"I'm great." She grinned brightly. "I'm really glad I caught you, though. I need some help editing my essay for English and Mr. Peterson said that you've been scoring the highest on our essays."

I nodded. "Okay." I hadn't known that my score was the highest, but it wasn't hard to imagine since I'd been receiving perfect scores for each assignment.

"You'll help?" She asked hopefully.

"Sure." I told her. "I'd be happy to."

She heaved out a loud sigh of relief. "That's great. Are you free right now?"

I hesitated, thinking back to my previous plan to sit in on Angela's practice. Deciding that it wasn't very important, I nodded. "We can start now."

I made a mental note to send a text message to my cousin as soon as we got to the library. I didn't want her to worry.

As we walked, the hallways became more and more empty. The last of the students that had occupied the hallways with us were dispersing.

"Thanks for helping me, Bella." Molly said, breaking the silence. "It means a lot."

"It's alright. I'm glad I can be here to help." I said honestly. "School work seems to be the only thing that I do right."

Molly watched me with steel grey eyes full of curiosity. She finally glanced away, tucking one of her dark, brown curls behind her ear.

"You're probably better at more than you think, Bella." She said to me.

I looked away from her, staring straight ahead as we walked. Movement from further down the hallway caught my attention.

A boy, tall and lean stood at his locker. He had blond hair styled up in spikes. He threw things into his locker, not caring about the mess he was creating. The loud echoing of voices rang throughout the hallway as two more students came into view and greeted the boy.

It was the same group that had tormented Molly on my first day. Steven and his posse who were yet to be named. I hadn't seen them since that day; I didn't have any classes with them. I glanced at Molly to find her watching the floor, not realizing that it was them.

I took a deep breath and prepared myself to pass them. I hoped maybe if we didn't speak, they wouldn't realize it was us.

I kept my gaze straight ahead, every step we took brought us closer. We passed successfully and continued on without a word. Molly was still unaware of their presence.